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<h1>Managing Questions and Libraries in IMathAS</h1>
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<h2>Purpose of this document</h2>
<p>This document will guide you through managing questions and libraries in IMathAS.  
These tasks are commonly done when you are writing new questions or recategorizing
existing questions.  This is not a comprehensive
guide; please refer to the <a href="../help.html">help file</a> for more
detailed information.</p>

<h2>Managing Libraries</h2>
<p>The question libraries categorize questions on the IMathAS system.  Having a
clear library structure makes it easier for instructors to find the questions they
need when writing assessments</p>

<p>On busy systems with many instructors who write questions, it is advisable for each
instructor to create a Private "scratch" library in which they can create and test questions before
making them available by assignment into public libraries</p>

<p>Additionally, an instructor might find it useful to create a library for each of their classes, and
assign to those libraries the questions they feel might be useful in assessments</p>

<h4>Accessing Library Management</h4>
<p>Click on the "Manage Libraries" link in the grey control box on the course page.  The
entire library structure will be displayed</p>

<h4>Adding Libraries</h4>
<p>You can add a library by clicking the "Add New Library" button.  Enter a name for the library.  Then
select the library Rights.  There are six levels of library rights:</p>
<ul>
<li>Private: Only the library owner can access the library.  It is not displayed on other instructor's
    library lists.</li>
<li>Closed to group, private to others: Anyone from the owner's group can view and access the library, but only the owner can
    add new questions.  The library is hidden from instructors outside the owner's group.</li>
<li>Open to group, private to others:  Anyone from the owner's group can view, access, or add new questions to the library.
     The library is hidden from instructors outside the owner's group.</li>
<li>Closed to all: Anyone can view and access the library, but only the owner can add new questions to the library</li>
<li>Open to group, closed to others: Anyone from the owner's group can view, access, or add new questions to the library.
    Anyone from outside the owner's group can view and access the library, but can not add new questions to the library.</li>
<li>Open to all:  Anyone can view, access, or add new questions to the library</li>
</ul>
<p>Library rights are also influenced by child libraries.  For example, if a child library has Open rights and the parent
is set as Private, the parent library will still be displayed so that users can access the child library.</p>

<p>Depending upon the system configuration, you may be limited to creating libraries that are private
to others outside their group.  If this is the case, a you will need to contact your Group Administrator to create a library
that is closed or open to all.</p>

<p>After selecting Rights, select the Parent library.  Click the "Select Library" button to pop up a list of libraries. 
Only parent libraries and empty libraries can act as parents.  The new library will be created as a child library inside 
the selected parent library (like a subdirectory in your computer file system)</p>

<h4>Modifying Libraries</h4>
<p>To change a library's name, its rights, or its parent, click the "Modify" link next to the library's name.  If you
move a library with children, the children will remain inside the parent after it is moved.</p>

<p>You can change the parent of several libraries at once by clicking the checkboxes next the libraries' names and clicking the
"Change Parent" button near the top of the page</p>

<h4>Deleting Libraries</h4>
<p>You can delete a library by clicking the "Delete" link next the library's name, or by selecting the checkboxes next to
several libraries and clicking the "Delete" button near the top of the page.  When you delete a library, you will be
given the option to delete the contained questions, or move them to the unassigned library.  A couple notes:</p>
<ul>
<li>A library with children cannot be deleted until the children libraries are deleted</li>
<li>If a question is contained in more than one library, deleting the library will never delete the question.</li>
</ul>

<h4>Transferring Libraries</h4>
<p>If you are the owner of a library and want to transfer that ownership to another user, you can do so by clicking the "Transfer" 
link next the library's name, or by selecting the checkboxes next to several libraries and clicking the "Transfer"
button near the top of the page.</p>

<h2>Managing Questions</h2>
<p>The Question Set contains the actual IMathAS questions.  The Question Set Manager allows you to
browse the question set, add new questions, reassign questions to libraries, and make other changes.</p>

<h4>Browsing the Question Set</h4>
<p>Begin a search by clicking the "Select Libraries" button.  You can select one or more libraries to view
at a time.  The contents of the library will not actually be displayed until you click the "Search" button.  You
can optionally add a search term in the search box to limit the questions displayed.  Currently the search box can
only handle single word search terms</p>

<p>In addition to the question description, the question type, how many assessments the question is current being used in,
and the ownership of the question is displayed.  You can click any of the column headers to sort the table by that value</p> 

<h4>Previewing Questions</h4>
<p>Click the "Preview" button next to the question's description to pop up a window allowing you to preview and test
out the question</p>

<h4>Adding Questions</h4>
<p>To start a new question from scratch, click the "Add New Question" button.  By default, the question will be
assigned to the libraries you are currently viewing, but you can the assignment in the question writing form</p>

<p>To create a new question based on an existing question, click the "Template" button next the question's description.
This will create a new question, leaving the original untouched, copying the code from the original</p>

<h4>Modifying/Viewing Questions</h4>
<p>Click the "Modify" link next to a question's description to modify its code.  If you see a "View" link instead of a "Modify" link, 
then the question owner has not given permissions that allow you to modify the question.  You can view the question's code
by clicking the "View" link.</p>

<p>The "Modify / View" link also allows you to change a question's library assignment.  Click "Modify" or "View", then change the
"My Library Assignments:" selection.  Note that library assignments can be made by anyone, but only the person who made the assignment
can remove the question from that library.</p>

<h4>Assigning Libraries</h4>
<p>As mentioned above, you can change a question's library assignment by clicking the "Modify" or "View" link.</p>

<p>Alternatively, click the checkbox
next to the question(s) description, and click the "Library Assignment" button near the top of the page.  Select the
library/libraries you wish to assign the question to.  You can deselect libraries to remove the
questions from existing library assignments you've made.</p>

<h4>Deleting a Question</h4>
<p>You can delete a question by clicking the "Delete" link next the question's name, or by selecting the checkboxes next to
several questions and clicking the "Delete" button near the top of the page.</p> 

<h4>Transferring Ownership</h4>
<p>If you are the owner of a question and want to transfer that ownership to another user, you can do so by clicking the "Transfer" 
link next the question's name, or by selecting the checkboxes next to several questions and clicking the "Transfer"
button near the top of the page.</p>

<hr/><p>&copy; 2006 David Lippman<br/>This guide was written with development grant support from the WA State Distance Learning Council</p>
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